Monday, December 20, 2010

So here she is! My 3rd daughter :) (Yes, I'm one of those crazy dog people now)

My little furbaby. She is the sweetest most adorable puppy I've ever seen and I'm completely in love!

After our lost puppy run in with the perfect breed of dog for our family (a Maltese mix of some kind) I searched the whole wide web for a match. I looked on adoption agencies across the country and felt out what my husband considered far. Just wanted to see if he would let me travel from Missouri to Texas to pick up a puppy. Which he did not find very amusing! :)

The breed I was looking for was very difficult to get a hold of.Not many Maltese mixes near me in adoption centers that were available to me.

My search only turned up about 6. Out of those 6 sweet dogs, only 3 were female (which we wanted) and of those 3. One was special needs and 2 would not be adopted out to families who had young children.

I then begun to look at breeders across the country. That was hard to dive into because there is so much push now-a-days to adopt. The breeding industry is so hard to dig through because you never know if they are reputable or just out to make money.

When I was frustrated and at the end of my research on the comoputer I went about life wondering why nothing was working out.

I knew that it was meant to be that our family was suppose to get a puppy now, and I even knew what breed and gender was perfect for our family so why was it so hard to find the right puppy!?

As I grocery shopped at a store about 3 minutes from my home I put the groceries in the trunk and walked my cart to the cart collection. On my walk back to the car I noticed a store I hadn't noticed in the 6 years we lived here. I'm not sure when it opened but I had never had pets so I guess my eyes weren't open to the existance of the store I didn't need.

So this day, I decided to stop in and look , hoping they would have cute clothes for the puppy I would hopefully find soon. But when I walked in, I heard some barking and saw some fish. This store actually sold animals. Although I had a bad opinion of buying a pet from a store I looked at the puppies and came across the most visually appealing breed there . A Malshi.

I asked the girl working there if she ever had any Malti-poos since that was what my research online was for. She said these Malshi's were the closest they had. At first I said "no" and began looking at toys on the other side of the store. With a quick change of heart I decided to visit with the Male and female Malshi in a little cubicle. I fell in love instantly with a little fuzzy ball of happy. They were excited and tiny and so cute!

After learning they were what I thought was an absurd amount of money to pay for a dog. After all, When I was about 6 my daddy had found a little beagle puppy in the newspaper for $40. I had to remember things were different now. Even after she told me the puppies price. I knew I couldn't walk out of the store even today without her. I caught alot of flack from my husband about the cost and the sudden purchase but I have never ever regretted paying that much or getting her from where I did in the 4 months I've had her. She's been an absolute dream. She's brought so much more joy to our family than I ever expected!

Her name is Saoirse (Ser-sha) Fionnoula (finn-ula). They are Celtic names that I did alot of research on before deciding on them. My husband wanted a boy dog and I just couldn't deal with not gettting to make dresses and hairbows for it, and naming it Gunner, or something manly like that. So I looked for a name that had a meaning and history I thought he would like. Saoirse is a name that was popular in Ireland in the 1920's. It means freedom or liberty and has strong republican political meaning.

Her middle name is also gaelic. Fionnoula means "fair haired" which fits because she is all white. There is a Irish legend about the name that is so charming.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

New~! The use of Burlap to make a tag. Embellished with sparkling soft pink flowers and matchign ribbons

Mini White Hang Tags would make beautiful price tags at your Craft booth or Tahnk you tags at a Little Girls Birthday party

A deep coffee dyed tag with key image and embellished with rhinestones.

The exact box as featured in Greencraft magazine. This is a technique I call Cardboard Carving. This project was requested by Jenny Doh for a publication and ultimately used my Amanda Crabtree for her beautiful magazine. Greecraft..Volume 3This very box traveled from Missouri to California and back. Now awaiting it's final use as a gift box, or supply/storage box for millinery or crafts.

Gorgeous papers adorned with sparkles, paint and pressed flowers. These are packs of specialty paper for scrapbooking and cardmaking for a next to nothing cost!

And finally.. A stunning sequins and beaded embellished bag with no pulls or missig beads.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Recently my dad (the girls's Papa) had been having shoulder problems and had to take some time off work. He loves when people cook for him so I made up the only thing I really cook which is vegetable soup and the girls wanted to make something to send him also, so we spent an afternoon baking and packing up some cake and cookies.

Here is the adorable teamwork that ensued :)

They took turns stirring the batter.

They floured their pans They hugged because they realized they weren't arguing over anything.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

I'm SO extremely excited to introduce you to our new baby girl puppy! She is about 5 weeks old in these photos and will be 8 weeks old when we get her.We don't have a name for her yet. We will be making name lists and voting on names before we bring her home.

This is our little sweetie with her 3 brothers. She is the only female and as you can see the only one who is all white.I'm SO excited to start this new journey with her. We had such a great time with the puppy that came into our lives for only 2 days and 1 night and I really believe that little Sweetie pie was a big piece of fate that brought me to our new baby girl puppy. Without little Sweetie Pie, we wouldn't have ever thought to get a puppy or a dog or this breed.This new little girl is a Maltese & Poodle designer mix which are known for being great for people with allergies. They are non shedding & hypo allergenic.Perfect for people like me who have suffered with allergies to pet dander all my life.Of course there will be many posts to come of our kids playing with her and her milestones. Can't wait to share them with you!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

This little darling here is Sweetie Pie :) and here is the story of how we had to say hello and goodbye....Thanksgiving day my husband & I dropped off our kids at Grandma and Papa's house and had a fantastic date day. Watched a movie and had lunch then came home in the late afternoon. As we pulled into our driveway we noticed a cute little white puppy across the street.My husband & I were outside bringing in Bins of Christmas Decorations, Preparing to put up our Christmas tree, which we always do the day after thanksgiving.As we was carrying bins in, this little puppy comes running across the street and onto our porch and right to me. I picked her up because she looked freezing. I wrapped her in my coat and carried her back over to the house she was standing in front of when we first saw her.

I knocked on their door for about 3 minutes and got no answer even though 2 cars were in the driveway. So I took her back over to what we were doing because no one was coming outside to get her. About 10 minutes later when my husband & I had completed bringing everything inside I wrapped her up in one of the girls blankets and took her back to the house and knocked again. This time I knocked harder and waited for 5 minutes. Still no answer.So I walked to a couple other neighbors that I knew were friendly and asked them if this was their puppy or had they ever seen it and no one had.After another 15 minutes of talking with random neighbors I took the puppy back to the house where I found it and knocked again. Still no answer.

So I brought her into our house thinking, a puppy this small can not be forgotten about for this long and she obviously doesn't live around here because no one has come out to get her and no one is looking for her. So I just tried to keep her warm and wondered what to do with her.Next I tried calling my local animal shelter to see if someone could pick her up. but it was Thanksgiving so no one was working.It was getting to be time to go pick the kids up so I took the puppy in the car with me to go pick them up. We stopped on the way home to get some flea shampoo because she had a small case of fleas. While at Walgreens the employees oohed and awwed at how precious she was and one employee said they had a lost dog flyer at the front of their store that might be this dog. While the photo of the lost dog really didn't look like her, I called anyway to see and it wasn't the correct owner. The lady who had posted the lostdog flyers for her dog had been reunited with her loved puppy and suggested I make a listing on Craigslist that I found her.So we brought her home and gave her a nice warm flea bath and I made the craigslist listings.While I did this the puppy snuggled up with the kids, the kids really enjoyed bringing her stuffed animals and chasing her around the house.The next morning the kids were so excited to have another day with her and knew we were looking for her family so we posted found dog posters in our neighborhood.By Noon there was still no response to the flyers or craigslist postings so I gave her another bath and braved the cold and the black friday shoppers to take her up to Petsmart to get scanned for a microchip. I asked the lady there what kids of dog she thought this was and about how old she was. She said that it was obviously a cared for animal because the puppy had her toenails painted and had a decent coat of hair. But no microchip. So while we were at petsmart we got her a tag, I wasn't about to lost a lost dog that I had said I found! :)We also got her toys, a little bag of food, and a little coat.Next we took her to Grandma and Papa's house to get a leash from there so we could take her on a walk and so she could meet their dog, our final stop was Kennelwood, a grooming and board facility where my sister in law worked. I wanted to see what breed she thought the dog was. She said maybe a maltese/ spaniel mix but didn't know for sure. My sister and law then clipped her nails and trimmed her paw pad hair.Finally we got back home and got the kids all bundled up to take a walk.I enjoyed the kids working together to all take her for a work and took many photos. Only minutes after this photo was taken truck pulled up on the road and asked if I just found this puppy? I said yes, and he called his 18 yr old daughter who had been worried about her all night.It turns out that her owner's dad lived at the house that I was knocking at all night but no one ever answered. I still don't know why, & it bothers me a little. I was SO disappointed, The girls and i had both had grown to like her alot. This experience brought alot of joy into our daily life for the 2 days she was here. & I believe that God just wanted to send me a message about what breed and size of dog was right for our family.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

I have been working diligently the last few days on getting caught up in my posting about the 5 months of life I didn't get to write about yet on my blog.Our home computer went down in late July and made it very difficult to blog. I didn't have my photos, thought I was going to loose 2 years worth of photos. I have a laptop to use but it didn't have any photos on it that I wanted to blog about.Finally our home computer came to life for 4 days. Long enough for me to retrieve my photos.Since then, it has shut down again. But I'm just glad my blog will be back to life~!Thank you for coming today! and please feel free to go through these posts I've just made.In order to maintain order I've filed them in their proper date order.Enjoy!!Beautiful Good for you Foods

For the last 3 years I have had a room dedicated to my Art and Etsy supplies. My family called it the craft room. I have 3 children who have up til now been so small that there was no reason for them to have separate rooms. We basically had a playroom in the largest room and they slept on the couch which is like a giant bed or they slept in our bed.Now that my son is 6 and in 1st grade he has a firm bed time and needs his own bed and room to fall asleep peacefully in without the girls waking him up. So I cleaned out my craft room. It was so much more packed than it looked and I found some really really lovely supplies I had been hanging onto for the perfect projects.I decided they have stayed their time in my home and I had my chance to create with them, It is now time to pass them along to someone who has plans for these fantastic supplies.All of these beautiful items have been listed in my Etsy shop.

Monday, November 15, 2010

This month a Bride named Megan contacted me through Etsy to request my Trim tags but with her Bride's maids names on them. Her idea was to tie these onto Mason jars that will be holding the bridesmaids bouquets on a table also doubling as decor. She is having a fall vintage themed wedding and requested that there be any fall charms I had as well as using the colors of her wedding. A soft orange, light green and brown.These match the Vintage Fall theme to a T and I can't wait to see photos of how she will be using them~!After she received her Bridesmaid's tags she loved them and decided to request some custom made tags for her Sand Ceremony Jars as well.On the center jar, there will be trim tag with their names and wedding date as well as a gorgeous vintage rhinestone pendant. And on either side of the center jar will be a jar with each of their names on them.She also needed some small custom tags to tie onto her edible favors. I thought this was the best sentiment for these tags.